The Box
by MattheJ1
Summary: What dark secret does the Companion Cube hold? Do you have the courage to find out?
1. Chapter 1: A bold new world

**Chapter one**

**A bold new world**

She walked through the field, looking around. It had been two days since she had left that place, and still she marveled at the beauty of the outside world. The birds chirping, the wind rustling through the grass, the trees swaying in the wind – a far cry from the sterile, white chambers of old.

She carried the Companion Cube under her arm. It might seem silly to keep lugging that big thing around, especially now that she was free, but she had learned never to take a cube for granted. After hundreds of mind-warping puzzles, she had come to realize that one cube could make all the difference.

The city still loomed on the horizon in front of her, still far, but that much closer. She had managed to find plenty of food in the wilderness around her, and once she had come to grips with water that would not kill her, she had not been thirsty, either. It seemed she would be more than able to reach the city – assuming nothing attacked her.

Her boots were slung over one shoulder. The terrain here was lacking the sorts of bottomless pits and death-filled chasms that had taken up so much of her life, and she found the grass between her toes a wonderful sensation. With her portal gun lost in space, she never ran into any situation that would require them – but better safe than sorry. For all she knew, her next few steps could take her to a cliff, and she was prepared to slip them on at a moment's notice.

She still looked around warily, making sure nothing ambushed her. She was still coiled like a spring at all times, ready for action if it chose to attack her. And at night, she still dreamed of white walls and a robotic voice. She supposed those would never go away. But slowly, surely, she began to adapt to her new world. A world where blue sky extended in every direction, and where the only path she followed was the one she chose herself.

She had no idea what the city might hold. She could barely remember life before the facility. How long had she been in cryosleep, anyway? Years? Decades? Had hundreds of years passed since she had seen the outdoors? Were there even still humans outside that awful place?

All she knew was that the answers could be found in that city. She walked on.

xxxxxxx

Adam's eyes flew open. Just in front of his face, a glass containment unit opened. He sat up quickly, eyes darting around the room. He seemed to be in a glass box with only a bed and a toilet. But how had he gotten there?

_Hello, and, again, welcome to the Aperture Science Computer Aided Enrichment Center._

Adam's eyes up, looking around the room for the source of the voice.

_We hope your brief detention in the Relaxation Vault has been an enjoyable one._

Adam's mind bustled with questions. "Where am I? What is this? What's going on?"

_While we at Aperture Science value questions as an efficient and informative method of conveying information, we regret to inform you that all of your questions have already been answered._

"What?" Adam asked, but the voice did not elaborate.

He thought about it for a moment, piecing together what she meant. This was a place called Aperture Science. He was in a 'Relaxation Vault', which seemed like a pretty fancy word for a glass box. And whatever this 'Enrichment' entailed, he was about to undergo it.

This raised more questions than it answered. "Who are you?" he asked, still searching for some sort of speaker.

_We are assigned to aid you in the testing of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device._

"That's not an answer! What the hell is going on here?" Adam shouted, with a growing feeling of dread and uncertainty.

_We respectfully disagree. Not only was our previous statement an answer to your question, it was also answer to the next question you offered. Now, if you have completed your questions, we will be able to begin the test proper._

"Why are you doing this?" Adam asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.

_We beg your pardon?_

Adam stopped. Was she – this thing – mocking him? "Why are you making me test?" he rephrased.

_Oh. Ha ha ha._

This thing WAS mocking him. Adam felt a brief feeling of anger, then held on to it. Anger was better than the grief he was now fighting.

_We apologize for our laughter, but your question was very simple. There is only one reason that we test._

The first portals opened.

_For science._

xxxxxxx

Atlas stepped out of the reconstruction chamber. Across from him, P-body looked questioningly at him. They stepped out of the booths, looking around. She had reconstructed them, but why?

_Well done, boys. Your performance thus far has been extraordinarily satisfactory._

The two took this praise in their stride, examining the closed door in front of them.

_But now, I have a new test for you, something only the two of you can do._

They snapped to attention. A new test? And only they could do it?

_As you know, we have recently found a plentiful source for human test subjects. But although their performance has been capable enough, there's one thing that they're afraid of, whereas you two do it with great gusto._

The door opened. Inside was a massive room filled with many dangerous things. Acidic pits, turrets, spikes and more awaited them.

_Dying._

They walked through the doorway, confused.

_For this test, I require you to die._

Now they were really confused. Before, dying had been a negative consequence – now she wanted them to?

_I know what you're thinking. The two of you dying, while infinitely repeatable, delivers only a fraction of enjoyment, much less than what I get from humans dying. That's why I need you to do it a million times._

A huge counter on the far wall appeared.

_Well, get to work._

The two were stunned. They had never been asked to do a million of anything before! And only they could do this important job.

P-body acted first, diving headfirst into the acidic water. The counter ticked up to 1. Not to be outdone, Atlas jumped into a crusher, giving a thumbs-up to a camera as he was crushed. Now the counter read 2.

The two re-emerged from the reconstruction chambers, running back into the room with excited whoops.

_Excellent. That's the idea. And remember, boys, it's all for science._

xxxxxxx

Wheatley's lens focused in on the receding Earth. Beside him, the Space Core said something. Wheatley didn't hear it, and he probably could've guessed what he said, but right now it didn't matter. He zoomed in and saw trees, grass, rivers, and fields of wheat – and then he saw her.

He relaxed. It always made him feel better to see her. He still remembered how happy he had been when he saw her the first time. He had been overjoyed to see that she had escaped Her cruel grip, that she was free.

That he had actually done something good.

The memories flooded through him, unwanted. He had been so monstrous. She had saved him and put him in charge of the whole facility, and what had he done? Betrayed her. Attacked her. Tried to kill her. Some friend he was.

"Space space."

Wheatley sighed again. He still ached for some way to pay her back. To tell her he was sorry, to beg for her forgiveness, to make up for the atrocities he had caused her. But that didn't seem very likely, not with him drifting off through space.

_Hello, moron._

Suddenly, Her voice appeared through the radio receptors. Wheatley regained his composure.

"Oh no, not you again. I've decided, I'm not going to talk to you. Not even say a word. Except for right now, of course, when I'm telling you all this, but that seems pretty obvious. Doesn't even need to be said, really. Also, I'm not a moron. Just have to say that, too. Kind of necessary. But other than that-"

_Relax. I just wanted to give you some good and bad news._

Wheatley responded, curious. "News?"

"Space?"

_Well, the good news is, I've analyzed your trajectory, and in a little over one year, your course will land you back on earth. _His viewport displayed an oval shape marked _Trajectory_, and at one end was a circle marked _Earth – good!_

"Oh, really? That is great news, actually. Fantastic! I don't know what could be better than-"

_The bad news is that, in a few weeks, it will lead directly into the sun._

"What?"

A larger circle appeared on the oval marked _Sun – bad!_

Wheatley didn't say anything for a moment. "No, that's not true. You're just lying. You just want to see me suffer since you can't test anymore."

Suddenly, laughter filled his head. _Can't test? Just take a look at this. _His viewport showed a new image. Thousands of humans frozen in tubes stretched as far as the eye could see. _Look at them, idiot,_ She said, voice filled with awe and excitement. _Thousands of them. Almost as many as the ones you tried to keep alive and failed. So don't worry about me. Worry about sunburn._ And with that, the radio switched off.

Wheatley floated there, thinking. Only a few weeks left? He glanced at the sun. It did seem to be getting closer.

Only a few weeks! Thoughts of fear filled him, and he dismissed all but one of them. Now that he knew he had such a short time left, there was no doubt. He had to find some way to make it up to her.

xxxxxxx

In the depths of Aperture Science, She looked at her monitors and smiled. It was all going just according to plan. Ever since She had let that girl leave, everything had fallen into place quite nicely.

On one screen, Wheatley's emotions were displayed. She had chosen the perfect timing for her words, building up his hope and crushing it quite solidly. Now he was emitting desperation that would only intensify as he neared the sun. She closed the display and put it on file, not wishing to watch it all at once. She would watch it later. Full screen. Rewinding over and over.

On another screen, one of the humans slowly worked his way through her test. At first, she had worried that these humans wouldn't be as useful as that girl had been. They were much less intelligent, and far more prone to dying. None of them had even made it past Chamber 7 so far.

But they talked.

They begged, they pleaded, they bargained, they insulted her. And when they died, they screamed. Even science couldn't compete with the sheer joy that human misery brought her. And while she still needed her fix of science to get her through the day, the sight of another human drowning in a pool of deadly water made up for all the whining.

She barely even glanced at the two robots. Later, when their task was complete, it would be quite a joy to experience all of their deaths at once, but for now it was best to just let them do their thing.

And then there was her.

Still walking through the field, the girl was still unaware of her final test. She didn't know what was waiting in the city for her, or the dangers she faced on the way.

Hell, she didn't even know what was in her Cube.

Nestled in her web of surveillance and science, She chuckled. For a moment, She considered the possibility that she might not even figure out what was in the Cube. She was a little dull, after all, and probably brain damaged.

_No. She'll find out. And when she does, even I don't know what she'll do. She might not even survive._

_Well, whatever happens, I can't wait to find out._


	2. Chapter 2: Remembrance

**Chapter two**

**Remembrance**

_White walls._

_Fluorescent lights._

_Sterile floors._

_No skies._

_No fields._

_Cameras._

_And a voice._

Welcome back.

Chell jerked awake. For a moment, the walls stayed in her eyes, and then they faded away. She sighed, feeling the grass between her toes and the breeze on her face. She waited for her heartbeat to return to normal, and then she turned her head.

The Companion Cube sat there, silent as ever. She had half expected it to send her back into panic, but somehow the Cube almost seemed to calm her. Perhaps it was because of its scorched and sooty exterior, but it exuded a warm presence, one which had been through the same trials as she had. A soothing presence, like that of an old friend.

Which was, of course, patently ridiculous. A heart on a face does not a sentient being make. Clearly, when Aperture had reviewed their sadistic and inhumane testing routine, the Companion Cube was the only concession they had made to try and maintain their subjects' sanity. Chell didn't see the practicality of having the subjects incinerate their personal Cubes, though. Maybe if she had a mind like Her – she stopped that train of thought right away.

She didn't feel remorse for incinerating it, either. Guilt over burning inanimate objects – especially if they survived intact – was true insanity. It had all probably just been designed to be painful, to make the subjects feel agony. Just another attempt to break her down – albeit a much more blunt way than the others.

Chell sat on the Cube, thinking. No, that couldn't be true. Her methods of demoralization and insult, while cruel, hadn't really started until after she had killed Her. So what was the point of making her incinerate a worthless item?

And after she thought of this, the next thought came almost unbidden: And why had she been given the Cube after she was let free? Some sort of reparation, to make up for what she had suffered through? Or an assurance, to assure her that she hadn't really killed her only friend? Or even utilitarian, as if a cube could prepare her for any situation life might bring?

No, that was all a little too human for Her. And while She certainly had seemed at her most human just before She set her free, Chell doubted that was the whole purpose. It sounded paranoid, but maybe there was some underlying motive, some secret reason for giving the Cube to her.

Chell shrugged. As the sun rose, so did she, stretching and preparing for another day of walking. Judging by the distance she had already traveled, the town was only about one day off. Maybe she'd find somebody there who could help her out. She picked up the Companion Cube, tiredly turning it over as she slung it under her arm.

And something shifted.

Chell immediately stopped. Slowly, she turned the Cube back around. Again, she heard something slide within it. She set the Cube down, staring at it with incredulity.

Something was in that Cube.

Chell bent down, the town forgotten. She began examining the Cube, looking across the facets for some way to open it. She didn't care if it took all day, she would find whatever was in the box. She would solve this just as she had solved all the other puzzles set by Her.

She would not lose. Not when she had come this far.

xxxxxxx

_You are now entering Test Chamber #7._

Adam stepped out of the elevator, trying to ignore the voice. The portal gun in his hand still amazed him, but it wasn't enough to distract him. This thing wanted him to react, and he wouldn't succumb to her taunts.

_We have received some constructive feedback on how to make our testing subjects more motivated._

Adam snorted but said nothing.

_Therefore, we will be implementing an Achievement system to reward our subjects' progress. For example, if you finish this test chamber, you will be the first to do so alive._

Still, Adam stayed silent. Obvious bait, and he would not succumb to it. He approached a blind corner and stopped. On the wall in front of him, a red splotch surrounding a number of bullet holes greeted him at about chest height.

"Is that – blood?" Adam gasped, despite himself.

_We would suggest you not immediately jump to the worst conclusion. Perhaps the subject ahead of you simply meant to paint the entire wall red, but was interrupted by being shot._

"You're trying to kill me!" he shouted angrily.

_Your suggestion is illogical. If we wanted to kill you, we would do so much later, after you had undergone the maximum amount of physical pain and torture. But we don't. Carry on._

And with that, the voice stopped, leaving Adam to contemplate the many ways of shoving a large, painful item up the speaker's ass.


	3. Chapter 3: Discovery

**Chapter three**

**Discovery**

P-Body braced himself, standing with his legs spread wide. Behind him, the pit of acid sizzled. Ahead, Atlas stood. Suddenly, he began to charge, running straight towards him with a look of pure hatred in his eye.

P-Body stood his ground. Atlas never relented, shoulder held out in front of him, ready to shove his lifelong friend into the deadly pit. As he reached him, he bellowed, sending out a deep screech.

Quick as a flash, P-Body leapt over him, causing the surprised Atlas to go hurtling over the edge into the pit. He sizzled into oblivion, and the counter ticked up to 536.

As Atlas emerged from the reconstruction chamber, he and P-Body exchanged high-fives, laughed for a moment, and then sighed. Mentally, P-Body checked _Mock Bullfighter_ off his list, the last concept he had wished to try.

They had done everything they could to relieve the routine and monotone of death. They had played _Chinese Water Torture_, where Atlas held his head under a pipe of Conversion Gel and squeaked something about an insurgent base. They did _High Fly Die_, where a bot and a turret were flung into the air with each other, the turret shooting him dead before they collided and exploded. Even something as interesting as slicing one of them in half with a walkway had been tried very quickly. And now…they were bored.

P-Body sat down on the edge of the pool. Atlas kicked him in absentmindedly.

As he reemerged from the spawner, P-Body questioned his own thoughts. They were machines, and they had never even understood the concept of boredom before, let alone suffer from it. She had once said they were becoming more human. If this was what humans went through, he felt sorry for them.

As he ripped off Atlas' limbs, one by one, and threw them into a crusher, he lamented their task. They still had their portal guns, but they hardly used them anymore. They still had their built-in long fall boots, but these had become more of a hindrance now that dying was the primary objective. P-Body kicked his friend's dismembered head into the spikes, wondering if their talents were now going to waste.

They shouldn't be trying to die, but rather, trying to accomplish something, while death was a penalty for failure. If they were going to wear these boots, why not use them for something big? Like a drop to the center of the earth – yeah, that would be cool. As long as they had these gels, why not use them for jumping and flying around a massive, abandoned old building? That seemed like something that could test the portal gun more effectively than just dying.

Again, P-Body sighed as Atlas walked towards him, smashing two Storage cubes together. Why couldn't they do something interesting?

xxxxxxx

Again, Chell studied every facet of the Companion Cube, looking for anything that might open it.

It still amazed her how, after all the time she had spent around the Cube, she hadn't heard anything before. Perhaps She had only put whatever was inside it there after she had escaped, but this didn't seem likely, as the Cube weighed about the same now as it had before. Of course, before, she had held it at the end of a portal gun, so it would have been too far away to hear a faint rumble. And she hadn't really had any occasion to throw it around, either.

She looked at the city, still far away. Again, she considered walking to the city and opening it there, but she resisted. Whatever was in this box was for her and her alone. She wouldn't risk an entire city.

Chell felt around the edges, looking for some sort of hinge or latch. Perhaps this had been Her plan all along. Stopped on the verge of reaching civilization by an unsolvable mystery. But she refused to believe it. There HAD to be a way to open it up.

Suddenly, she noticed something she hadn't before. One of the faces on the Cube was pushed out slightly, more so than the others. Gingerly, she touched it, trying to push it in. When that failed, she tried turning it and found, to her surprise, that it rotated with a noticeable clicking sound.

A combination lock? Eagerly, Chell placed her ear on the side of the Cube, turning it slowly. What she needed now was absolute silence.

The thought made her smile for a moment. Truly, who could do silence better than her? Back in…the place, she had remained silent through her whole ordeal, even with Wheatley, who, at the time, she had considered a friend. Chell shuddered, pushing those memories out of her mind.

Of course, she could speak. Refusal to speak doesn't necessarily mean incapability. No, she kept her mouth shut out of necessity. Insanity had assailed her from all sides. If she had ever tried to talk, tried to bring her reasoning into it, she'd be lost as well. Like arguing in quicksand; you'd never win, and eventually it swallows you.

_Click_

She heard the first tumbler and changed direction, now turning counter-clockwise.

What was in this box, anyway? The answer to that probably depended on what She had been when she was let go. She said that Caroline had been deleted, but her release – and the turret song She had given her as she left – seemed proof that some semblance of Her was still human.

It seemed unlikely She would send something to kill her. She had pointed four turrets directly at her, and then passed up the chance. If she was willing to do all that, then why bother sending her a death trap that she might not have even found?

Then again, Chell had no idea what a ruthless computer thought of. Maybe putting neurotoxin in a box, released only by her hand, would prove some sort of superiority for her. If she didn't find it, then She was smarter than her after all. And if she did, she died.

_Click_

Two down, one to go. She reversed again.

How could she be thinking like this? Was she really going to spend her life in fear of Her? One little puzzle, completely outside Her territory, and she was still cowering in fear. Chell knew she was still fully alert and capable of stopping any threat She might have. Hell, she was still so in awe of that machine that she couldn't even bring herself to use Her real name!

As she zeroed in on the final tumbler, Chell steeled herself. No matter what was in this Cube – a turret, neurotoxin, or some hostile robot – she would be ready for it. She was resolute. She was sturdy. She was prepared.

_Click_

The top side of the cube popped open. Chell crouched, prepared. Without sticking her head up, she pushed the lid aside. She waved her arm above it, prepared to jerk it back at any moment. After a few seconds, she gathered her courage. She stood up and peered inside the box.

Another human face peered back out at her.


	4. Chapter 4: You monster

**Chapter four**

**You monster**

Chell jerked back, horrified. It was impossible. It must be some sort of trick.

She looked back into the box. A woman was crouched inside, eyes open but not moving. Slowly, Chell reached forward and gingerly touched it. Definitely real.

She began stepping away. The world seemed to dissolve around her, a massive void slowly filling with surprise and terror. Through the blackness, memories from the place came back to her.

_We would like to remind you once again that the Companion Cube cannot speak. In the event that it does, we recommend you to disregard its advice._

_Your Companion Cube can no longer accompany you and must, unfortunately, be destroyed._

_Oh, did I accidentally fizzle that one before you could complete the test?_

_You incinerated your Cube faster than anyone else on record._

_You monster._

_Oh, I fizzled that one too._

_I invited your best friend, the Companion Cube. Of course, he couldn't come because you murdered him._

_You monster._

_We have a warehouse full of the things. Absolutely worthless. I'm happy to get rid of them._

_I think that one was about to say 'I love you.'_

_You monster._

_They are sentient, of course. We just have a lot of them._

_You monster._

_You monster._

_You monster._

The unwanted memories filled her head, threatening to plunge her into blackness. She fought for consciousness, sinking to her knees from the burden of the knowledge of what she had done.

How could she have been so foolish? How could she have just thrown the cube into that incinerator without ever questioning why she had to do so? How could She be so cruel, to give this to her, to show her of her failure? How could-

Unable to finish the thought, Chell collapsed, tears in her eyes. She didn't deserve to live. She was no better than Her, no better than Wheatley, no better than-

_"Testing, testing, 1 2 3. Cave Johnson here."_

Chell sat up. Hating what she had to do, she turned around and looked back at the Cube. An all too familiar voice now emanated from it.

_"Hello, future science participants! If you're hearing this, you have just received one of our latest prototypes, the Weighted Transportation Cube! My friend, you are looking at the newest innovation in human transportation! And a comatose test subject. You're also looking at that."_

Chell couldn't believe what she was hearing. Comatose? Filled with hope, she reached in and felt for a pulse on the woman inside. Amazingly, she found one – muted, but steady. Whoever this was, she wasn't dead.

_"So here's how it works: Instead of paying loads of money to fly your people cross-country to a worksite, just mail them! This baby not only protects the person from the elements, but it also dampens impact, temperature, and even weight! Yes sir, this little guy can make 150 pounds seem like twenty! _There was a pause as Cave chuckled in the background. _The hearts were Caroline's idea. She figured they needed a way to tell you're carrying people, not just dead weight."_

_"So anyway, this is the first time we've attempted this on a global scale. If this arrived at its correct destination, you should already know the proper procedure to reanimate the subject. If it ended up at the wrong address, just close it back up and mark the box _Return To Sender_. And make sure not to accidentally kill them. We put a lot of money into these things, and it'd be pretty embarrassing if a scumbag like you ended up ruining it. Cave Johnson, we're done here."_

Chell slumped against the Cube, trying to comprehend what had just happened. So this person wasn't dead, just in a coma. Somehow the insane father of Aperture had figured out how to preserve people in a tiny box, but never got the chance to use it.

She looked back inside. If this person wasn't dead, then it seemed it WAS all just another test made by Her, one last parting jab. She looked back at the city, still miles away. As unappealing as it was, she'd have to carry this person all the way there and hope someone knew how to wake her up.

Chell reached for her shoulders and started to pull her out of the Cube. Then she stopped. The person was a lot heavier outside the Cube than within, a warping of physics she couldn't begin to understand. And would she really be able to stay alive, lugged across those plains, exposed to the elements? What if she dropped her? She shuddered, trying to banish those thoughts.

There was only one way to carry this person that she knew would be safe. And she hated it.

Painstakingly, she lowered the body back into the Cube. As someone who had herself been exposed to freedom, only to be dragged back into her metal prison, Chell despised herself for what she was doing. It was not only cruel, it was demeaning. But there was no other way. She brushed the woman's hair in, making sure none got trapped when the lid closed.

Once she was encapsulated completely in the Cube, Chell picked up the lid. She delayed as much as she could, trying to imagine herself anywhere else, but eventually she did it. She lowered the lid and pressed down, hating herself. As it sealed shut, Chell made a vow. No matter what happened, no matter what awaited her in that city, she would see this woman to safety.

Now all too aware of the burden she carried, Chell picked up the Companion Cube again. She set off for the city once more. She would walk all day and all night, not stopping to sleep, eat, or even to drink. She would not fail, not after she had come so far.

She would never let Her win.

Never.

xxxxxxx

A light flashed in the corner of Her display. She recognized it as a message, and knew exactly what it meant. The girl had opened the box, and she had found what was inside. She only wished She had thought to install a camera, just so She could see the girl's reaction. But it mattered little. For the first time in quite a while, Her thoughts drifted away from that little monster, buried beneath joy and anticipation. It was all going according to plan, her perfect plan.

In the test chambers, Adam huddled behind a wall, shivering from fear as the turrets sat around the corner, patiently waiting for their new friend. It was all foolish, really. If he shivered too much, he'd throw off his aim. Quite funny.

And yet, he failed to understand the significance of his position. So far, he had showed the highest potential of all the new subjects. His ability to siphon rage into action and adrenaline into thought proved very useful. It seemed likely he'd go all the way.

Which meant they could soon move on to Phase 2.

She then turned her attention to their storage area, where the rest of the subjects hidden in the Vault lay asleep. Thousands of humans, sealed away for so long, never even suspecting what they would soon be a part of.

She then turned to her controls and activated the Announcer, the automated control system that now lay at her beck and call.

_Prepare subjects for awakening._

After a moment, it responded. _"Preparing subjects for awakening. Specify number."_

_All of them._


	5. Chapter 5: The prize is in sight

**Chapter five**

**The prize is in sight**

_City 12 welcomes you_

_City limits_

The sign ahead of her seemed rather unnecessary, given the walls looming about 500 yards behind it, but it certainly was significant to Chell. She'd walked well into the night, eventually slowing from fatigue, but the city seemed to get no closer. Impatient from the precious cargo she carried, and wandering thoughts now focused directly on one concept, she had underestimated the city's distance, and the similarity of the terrain amplified it. This sign was the only significant measure of progress she had made, and it filled her with triumph. Finally, after all her walking, she had finally reached civilization.

It seemed odd, though. Considering how late it was, why were there so few lights on? Other than a few streetlights, the city was mostly dark and quiet. Was there some sort of power shortage?

A rustling sound behind her caught her attention. She whirled around, not knowing what to expect. Behind her, the grassy plains, given an eerie glow in the moonlight, gave no hints of movement. She looked up, but nothing seemed to be in the air, either.

She stopped, still looking around, still alert. Through her travels, she had wondered why she hadn't stumbled upon much wildlife. A deer, once, and a few flies, but for the most part the plains had been silent. More than once, she had wondered if this was because all of the animals had gone extinct, or if one unseen predator stalked these grounds.

The rustling happened again, closer this time. Preparing for a fight, Chell scanned the area again. In front, behind, and above.

She never thought to look down.

With a screech, the first antlion appeared from beneath the ground, lunging for her. Some distance away, a second emerged as well.

Seized by horror and revulsion, Chell rolled out of the way, causing it to leap past her. The second antlion leapt high in the air, charging down at her. Without thinking, Chell grabbed the Cube and swung it at the massive bug as it came down, only then realizing what she had done.

The antlion collided with the Cube, causing it to fly to the side and hit the ground, knocking it unconscious. Chell stared at the Cube with horror.

What was she doing? How could she risk the life of the person inside it? The recording said it dampened impact, but Chell had spent enough time around…that place…to know that their products were hardly bug free. She couldn't just swing it around willy nilly, now that-

The other antlion interrupted her thoughts. It screamed and charged, legs scampering, mouth biting.

Unsure of whether to grab the legs or the mouth, Chell chose the mouth, and paid for it. Her grip stopped its charge, but its teeth cut into her fingers, and its flailing front legs scratched her on the shoulder. As she winced, the monster's momentum pushed her back, and the back of her foot pushed against the Companion Cube.

Chell smiled. Perhaps she could still use the Cube to her advantage. Feigning defeat, she fell backwards. The antlion lunged forward, victory assured. But when her back hit the Cube, Chell kicked up with her legs, and redirected her momentum into the creature. Caught off guard, the relatively lightweight antlion was thrown bodily, and a fall that normally would have ended in her death instead sent the antlion over her head, and it landed on its back, legs flailing.

Chell quickly rushed in, sure these creatures would be able to turn over fairly quickly. She looked around for something to use as a weapon, to finish the antlion. But the terrain presented nothing, and she had already ruled out the Cube. She glanced down at her long fall boots, now hooked around the waistband of her jumpsuit. Their ability to immediately negate impact meant she couldn't use them to bludgeon, but perhaps they might serve another purpose.

While the antlion flailed, directionless, Chell took one of the boots in hand. As the creature's mouth opened, she jammed the boot into its open gullet, wincing at her own forced brutality. The creature's screams turned gargled and muffled, and its flailing became quicker and less focused. It tried to bite down on the boot, but the force cancelling feature that had saved her legs before now saved her neck. Slowly, the movement came to a halt, and it emitted one last gurgle before its legs fell to the ground. It was dead. Still, Chell waited about ten more seconds before pulling her boot free, just in case.

She then turned to the other one, still lying on its back, unconscious from her hit. She stared at it, confused. What the hell were these things? Giant killer bugs? How does such a thing even exist, let alone grow common enough to roam the planet freely?

Before, she had just assumed she'd been in cryosleep for years, maybe even decades, but she now called that into question. She remembered the first thing she had heard after being woken up:

_"Good morning. You have been asleep for 99999999…"_

She looked at the city. If such a long time had passed, what would the cities be like? Who – or what – lived in them? Scenarios she had never even considered came to her mind. What if aliens now ruled the world? Or zombies? Or some sort of pseudo-terrorists, who just conquered and killed everything?

A stirring from the antlion interrupted her thoughts. One of its legs twitched, and its chest moved up and down. It was still alive, and in a moment it would be back on its feet.

She looked at its chest, far softer than its hard back, and she looked at her hands, still bloody from the last one's attack. She had no insight into antlion anatomy, but she had a suspicion that the more she punched it, the more dead it would become.

Chell raised her fists, beginning her assault.

_Look at you,_some part of her thoughts said,_ a veritable cold-blooded killer now. Maybe you are a monster after all._

The antlion stirred some more, and a guttural growl issued from its mouth.

_Well_, she thought back, _that's just too bad for this thing, isn't it?_ Her fist dropped.

xxxxxxx

Nothing.

Wheatley sighed. He couldn't think of a single thing he could do to repay her. What could possibly forgive trying to kill her?

He spun around and looked at the sun. Still there, and getting closer. And still, nothing to do but think about all his mistakes.

For some reason, his thoughts drifted to what She had called him.

_Moron. Idiot. Stupid. Complete waste of good circuitry. A plague upon science that now nears its natural removal._

Wheatley started. "What?"

_I noticed you were thinking about what I called you. I then bolstered that memory with some new ones. You're welcome._ And with that, She shut the radio off, turning away to watch Adam back in the test chambers.

Wheatley resumed his thoughts. No, he was not a moron. He had done stupid things, but it wasn't for a lack of thinking. On the contrary, he thought of a great many things, with a processing power rivaling Her own. A million thoughts, all surging to his attention, one after the other. None of them stayed in his head for more than a few seconds, which was probably the real problem. And when he had been in power – well, something had influenced those thoughts. Something turned them all sour, allowing him to betray her in record time. Day and night, thousands of tainted thoughts, flooding his judgment.

But there had been one reprieve. At that final battle with the girl, there had been one voice, clear and calm, that had focused logic and sense into his thoughts. In the moments before he had been sucked out into space, several things had become abundantly clear to him: He was at fault. He was to blame. The place would be destroyed because of him.

Now a new idea emerged. If he could somehow reconnect with the core she had attached to him, maybe it would help him think clearer. Maybe it would solve his dilemma!

Now filled with purpose, Wheatley scoured his functions, looking for what he needed. At last he found it.

"Yes! Activate two-way radio," he said.

_"Six digit passcode required."_

"What? Are you kidding me? She used it just fine!"

A buzzer sounded.

"Huh? No, that wasn't the passcode, I was just asking how-"

The buzzer sounded again.

He sighed. Time to use his code cracking skills.

"AAAAAA."

The buzzer rang once more.

"Okay, AAAAAB."

Again, the buzzer sounded. Wheatley didn't mind. It was nice to hear a noise that wasn't the voice of his, Hers, or the Space core's. He resumed his pattern. Eventually, he'd have a breakthrough. He could wait.


	6. Chapter 6: Redemption and retribution

**Chapter six**

**Redemption and retribution**

Empty. Deserted. Devoid of life. Just a few words to describe the city Chell now stood within.

She hadn't known what to expect when she set foot in the city, but she had never counted on nobody being there. The tall skyscrapers loomed overhead, the streets stretched out in front of her, and blackened monitors were anchored to the walls, but none held any indication of life. They had barely started to decay, a few grass roots poking through the ground here and there, but not nearly as prevalent as Aperture had been

All of this was astonishing, but she took it in her stride. Later, the consequences of the total annihilation of civilization might be fully realized, but for now she had to focus on the matter at hand – the person in her hands. She considered calling out, but that seemed unwise. Anyone hiding and still alive would probably not be reassured by a strange woman screaming, and it might attract unwanted company. She looked at the scratch on her shoulder for a moment before looking back up, searching the buildings for the right sign.

At last she found one – a red cross. Hospital, in any language. Carefully cradling the box in one hand, she approached the building and opened the door, prepared for the unexpected.

Fortunately, she found nobody. Jogging past the front desk, she hurried to the first open room. Inside, a bed and a lot of medical equipment greeted her. She carefully placed the box on the ground, reentering the combination and opening the Cube. Knowing she probably didn't have long, she lifted the still unconscious person out of the cube and onto the bed. Then she stood there.

What next? Chell certainly wasn't a doctor, and she didn't have the faintest idea how to revive someone from a coma. She called on memories of a life long ago, searching for anything related to healthcare. Briefly, the concept _EKG_ floated to her mind. Recalling the device, she searched for one and found it, a monitor with several needles attached. She turned it on, picked up the needles, and turned to the person.

She hesitated. She wasn't a squeamish person, by any definition of the word, but still had very little idea what she was doing. The life of a person now rested on hundred-year old memories. Delicately, she inserted the needles into the woman's arm.

The EKG flashed to life. The number 30 appeared on the screen, and it started beeping slowly.

_Heart rate,_ Chell thought, and smiled. She was still alive. But what to do next? How do you revive someone so close to death? Her mind conjured up the concept _defibrillator_, and she found one mounted on the wall. She took it out and opened it, finding two pads within. She picked up the pads, preparing for the next part.

_My, did you really come all this way just to kill something else?_

Chell froze. The pads dropped from her hands, unnoticed. _Oh no. Oh god, please, no._ She turned around slowly, heart pounding. On the wall was a monitor she had not noticed before, and on the screen…

_Or did you intend to save this person? That scenario is even more amusing._

It was Her. After all she had been through, all she had suffered, She was there once again, mocking her. No matter where she went, it seemed She had found her.

_Now, listen carefully, monster, this is important._

Chell snapped out of her thoughts, forcing herself to focus on what She was saying.

_A defibrillator revives people whose hearts have STOPPED beating. If you use it on someone who's still got a beating heart, you'll only succeed in killing them. If you want to revive her, you'll have to be a little more delicate._

Chell could hardly believe what she was hearing. Did She really think she was going to trust Her? Nevertheless, Chell had an odd feeling she was right. Her foggy memories were hardly reliable – but neither was She.

Sensing the inner turmoil, She spoke again.

_Look, I realize we've had our differences in the past. But right now, you have a choice to make. You can ignore what I'm saying, just put your fingers in your ears and do whatever you think you're doing._

That sounded good to her. Chell began to turn.

_And this girl will die._

Chell wheeled around, glaring at the monitor.

_That's not a threat. That's a promise._

Uncertainty gnawed at her. Did she really trust herself?

_Your other option is to listen to me and perform the correct procedure. Then, and only then, will you have a chance to save her._

Both options seemed like gambles, risks she would never take, if given the chance. Of course, She knew the correct procedure. But would She really tell her?

Like She had read her mind, She spoke again. _Oh, come on. What good would a test be if the subject has no idea how to solve it? It simply wouldn't be sporting if I let you just kill this person outright. It might be funny, but it certainly wouldn't be scientific._

In a crazed, demented way, it almost made sense. Why bother setting up another test if She would just tell her to kill the person? Still, Chell couldn't be sure this wasn't just another lie. But it seemed she had no other choice. Reluctantly, hating herself, Chell turned back to the monitor. She motioned for Her to go on.

_Excellent. Now, it may seem unusual to actually not kill something for once, so I'll walk you through it. You'll have to slowly increase her heart rate to normal with an IV drip of adrenaline. Control the flow carefully. Too slow, and it won't have any effect in time. Too fast, and you'll send her into cardiac arrest. All the killing, none of the satisfaction from throttling._

Now Chell concentrated. She started searching the equipment, looking for the proper machinery. Whether she trusted Her or not, she couldn't even carry it out if she didn't have the proper equipment. She hoped that She would stop talking, but that didn't seem to be in the cards.

_Now, this is exciting, isn't it? More dramatic than any test I've done so far. Will you find the equipment or not? Will you trust me enough to use it? Oh, I just love it all!_

Trying to block Her out, Chell continued looking.

_Say, while I'm here, do you have any questions? Anything you want to know? I'm an open book._

Chell rolled her eyes.

_Let me guess. You'd like to know what happened to the town, wouldn't you?_

Chell slowed for a moment. She cursed herself for taking the bait, but she was curious.

_ Isn't it obvious? They died._

She turned back to her work, unimpressed. What did she expect?

_What, you want specifics? I don't know how. That's what humans do. That's all they do. Die._

Finally, she found the proper equipment. Chell began hooking it up, keeping an eye on the EKG.

_Humans get taken over by chaos and die. That's what happened to this city, to the whole world. The only reason you lasted as long as you did is because I sheltered you, because my science shielded you from the outside world. And now you've left._

Carefully, she hooked up the girl to the IV drip.

_And I'm not going to take you back. Don't even try coming. The last time you and that little idiot-_

Chell winced, hoping She wouldn't notice.

_Ah, it seems we've had a breakthrough. Remember him? That ball of concentrated stupidity you put in charge of the facility, only to have him try to murder you – how did that make you feel?_

She began to shake. Trying to stay calm, Chell looked at the EKG to see the girl's heart rate slowly climbing. _It's working,_ she told herself. _Just don't let her get to you and you'll be fine._

_I don't know much of betrayal, since I don't try to trust morons, but how did you feel when your idiotic friend became your idiotic enemy? Some motley crew of friends you've got there._

Chell put her hands on her head. _Make it stop!_

_The computer generated idiot, who abused his power the moment you gave it to him. Me, your lifelong enemy who saved your life and would now kill you if I had the chance. And the Weighted Companion Cube, which you incinerated, which, given your new information, now counts as fratricide. Speaking of, you were too slow._

Suddenly, the EKG flatlined. Chell removed her hands, horror growing. Frantically, she started performing CPR, but the girl still wasn't moving.

_Oh my. And this was probably the easiest test yet._

Frantically, Chell picked up the defibrillator, hoping against hope that she wasn't too late.

_Do you know the funny part about this? Well, I suppose it's all funny, but this was the funniest._

She placed the pads on the girl's chest. There was a jolt, and the girl's body jumped, but the EKG still read nothing.

_I wasn't even planning on telling you how to fix her. I thought, "How could she possibly fail if I told her just what to do?" And yet, you managed to do it._

She tried the defibrillator again. Still nothing.

_So, what will you do now that your last hope of human companionship is gone? Will you stay here and wait for nature to kill you, or will you come back to me, begging on your knees to be taken back? Another choice! Make it count._

She tried again, invoking a god she had never prayed to while she had been held captive. Still, nothing happened.

_Or don't. It's all the same to me. All part of the joke. And believe me, I will be laughing, from the moment you start, to the moment I say, "Happily ever-"_

"CLEAR!"

Chell shouted this last word, dropping the pads onto her chest one last time. Another shock resounded through the girl's body. Then there was silence.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

The EKG. It was beeping normally. Chell looked at the display, and saw that the girl's heart rate now read 60. Her chest started moving up and down, breathing much faster than before. She would live.

Chell wheeled around, turning to face the monitor. She wanted to gloat, to throw this in Her face, to prove she had finally won this last test, that she was free of Her in the end, that she no longer had to answer to Her. More than anything, she wanted to smash that monitor into dust, to tear it from the wall and crush it, to destroy-

She looked at the wall. There was no monitor.

xxxxxxx

They weren't needed anymore.

P-Body had first begun to suspect it at around death 1086, when he realized they had not heard a single thing from Her since they had begun. A while later, he had convinced Atlas to give him a boost up, and he had yanked the camera from the wall. Normally, when they destroyed a camera, She would chastise them, but they didn't hear anything. They weren't being watched, which meant they weren't needed.

P-body sighed, unsure what to do. There wasn't anything they could do, really, except keep dying. Maybe something would happen when they died a million times, but was it really worth that much boredom?

He sat down, and Atlas sat beside him. He cursed their new human emotions, which now let him feel boredom. He wished someone would come along and give them something to do.

Atlas walked away, looking around the room for something new. P-body simply lay there. Wasn't there anything to do?

xxxxxxx

Adam woke up, feeling stiff. It hadn't been easy, falling asleep on a cold, concrete floor with bright lights and Mrs. Bitch Queen 5000 yammering in his ear, but he had managed, through sheer exhaustion, to do so.

The moment she saw him stir, she began talking again.

_To make an objective comparison, all previous test subjects were able to complete every test in a few hours, yet you have taken long enough as to need a nap in the middle._

"Well, it's exhausting!" Adam retorted. "And these puzzles are getting harder!"

_Indeed, the tests do get harder. With other subjects, this was complemented by an increase in lateral thinking and intelligence. You, however…_

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Adam grumbled as he exited the room.

_Now then, test 29 out of 47. Shall we begin?_

xxxxxxx

"AAABXF."

Buzzer.

"AAABXG."

Buzzer.

"AAABXH."

Buzzer.

"Argh, this is useless!" Wheatley shouted. The sun just got closer every day, and yet he seemed no closer to his goal. Around him, the Space Core still orbited, still as excited as ever. Apparently, he found no issue in being burned to death in the sun. Probably the best way to die, if you were a core obsessed with space.

"All right, I've got to break out my master code cracking skills for this! Now, if I were Her – and, in fact, I once was – what would I make the code so I would never get it? Hmm…

"A. Start the first letter normal, just to throw me off track.

"H. Second letter completely random, I'd never guess it.

"6. A number. I probably wouldn't even have guessed there WERE numbers in the code to begin with!

"Fourth letter…oh, I'm blanking here. Any advice?"

"Space."

"Space! Yes! A completely legitimate character, smack dab in the middle of the password. Never see it coming.

"Fifth letter…A again, just to irritate me. Now, what would the last letter be? Hmm, what do you do to throw someone off in a password…0! Exactly! People would think it was an o. Clever, you, but I've cracked it!

"Right. AH6 A0!" he shouted triumphantly into the microphone.

The buzzer again.

"Oh. AH6 B0?" he tried.

_Ding_

"Oh! I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it! Activate two-way radio with the Facts Sphere!" he shouted triumphantly.

_"Contacting Fact Sphere,"_ the announcer said. _"Please hold."_

"All right," Wheatley said, waiting for the hold music to come on.

_"Fly me to the moon, let me gaze among the stars…"_

"Oh, that's just insensitive."

He waited for a bit, and eventually the music stopped.

"Hello? Is this the Fact Sphere?"

_"Fact: Based on your nervous tone, quick speech and uncertainty of whether you requesting the Fact Sphere brought you in contact with the Fact Sphere, I deduce you are Wheatley."_

"Oh, it is you. Listen, I'm calling you because-"

_"Fact: Because of your actions, I am now floating off in space, and a large asteroid will smash into me in about 37 hours, ending what is commonly referred to, inaccurately, as my life."_

"Oh, man, I really am sorry about that. I can't imagine what you're going through – strike that, actually, I can imagine exactly what you're going through – never mind. Is there anything I can do for you?"

_"Exactly what you called me for: request facts from me."_

"Sorry, what?"

_"The Fact Sphere was created with an innumerable amount of facts, and only one desire: to dispense them. The Fact Sphere had little opportunity to do this while in the bin with all other cores, but now has even less of an opportunity. Your simple request of a fact from me will be the first in many years."_

"All right, Fact Sphere, I need your advice. I betrayed a girl and tried to kill her, and I've regretted it for the rest of my life."

_"I can only assume you are referring to the test subject known as Chell."_

"What? That's her name? Anyway. I really want to make it up to her. Is there anything I can do to make things right with her?"

_"Fact: When a human is betrayed, they will often need to be repaid in ten thousand times the amount they have lost due to the betrayal."_

"I'm sorry, but what does this have to do with anything?"

_"Simple. You attempted to end her life. Therefore, to truly repay her, you must save 10,000 lives for her."_

"What? Ten thousand lives? Where the hell am I going to find ten thousand…?" Then he made the connection. "Of course! Her test subjects! But how could I free them? I'd have to – Fact Sphere! Can you help me?"

_"Fact: I still am floating in space, and an asteroid will destroy me in 36 hours and 59 minutes. I have no way of freeing ten thousand people from anywhere, and neither do you."_

"Oh," Wheatley said.

_"However, I can provide a series of facts that, when strung together by a competent human, could result in said human freeing the captives from Aperture Science."_

"Oh. Well, that'll be great. When do we start?"

_"We already have. Now listen carefully…"_

xxxxxxx

_"Companion Cube opened. Test subject survived."_

_Oh, good,_ She said disinterestedly. Her attention was wholly directed on the monitor in front of her. A new test subject was dumped in the large room. By now, they had figured out to move away from the chute, but it had been funny the first few times.

_"Subject 445 awakened. 9154 remaining."_

If She had a mouth, She would have grinned from ear to ear. If She had a cannon, She would fire it. If She had bells, She would have rung them. But enough comparisons.

Phase One of the ASHPD testing was nearing completion. She – no, They, They would have to return to that if They were to remain truly impartial – They could hardly believe how far They had come. Now came Phase Two – crowd effect. One portal device in a large population, in a scenario would it would be desirable. It would be so exciting to see what they would do for it.

Some would die, of course. In a sample size this large, that was inevitable. People would fight over it, form alliances, do things they would never do in other scenarios – all valuable test data. And when it was all done, the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device would be ready for worldwide release.

It had been a bumpy road, to be sure. There had been uncooperative test subjects, rogue AI, and even an unexpected collapse of society. But it would all be worth it when Aperture Science's crowning achievement finally finished testing.

Yes, it was all for science. And science was worth all else.

_End Part I. The Box will continue._


	7. Chapter 7: Rude Awakening

PART II

ADJUSTMENTS

**Chapter seven**

**Rude awakening**

April woke up, sitting bolt upright. She looked around, panting, taking note of everything around her. What had happened? What was going on? Where was she?

She was in a large bedroom, sitting on perhaps the most comfortable bed she had ever seen. To her right, a door, presumably to a bathroom, lay ajar. To her left, a set of stairs led downward. Aside from a dresser, the room was mostly empty. Suddenly, she heard a noise from downstairs.

She sat up, and immediately felt a huge crick in her neck. Her back and knees ached too. But the question of why wasn't important right now. She didn't know who, or how, but someone had taken her prisoner. She needed a weapon, fast. She looked around and found a large plank, just lying on the ground. Suspicious, but better than nothing. She picked it up and found it surprisingly smooth.

Slowly creeping downstairs, weapon in hand, April came to a slightly open door. Gently, she pushed it open. Beyond lay a kitchen. A big table sat in the middle of the room, with all sorts of different foods laid across it. April's stomach growled, but she tried to ignore it. At the far end of the table, a woman sat, eating a sandwich. At the sound of the door opening, she looked up, acknowledging her presence.

April walked into the room, weapon held high. "Where am I?" she demanded.

The woman responded slowly and simply. "Safe."

April was not reassured. "What's going on?"

"Breakfast," the woman said, gesturing at the food.

This was ridiculous. What the hell was going on here? "Let me go!" she shouted, growing uncertain.

The woman pointed across the room. "There's the door."

April glanced but did not move. "I want to go home," she said weakly, trying to hold her voice steady.

"Lead the way."

It then occurred to April that she had no idea where she had come from. Slowly, she edged towards the door, keeping an eye on the seated woman. She opened the door, hesitating before turning to look outside.

A large, empty city greeted her. Darkened skyscrapers blocked out the sunrise, and nothing stirred. "Hello?" she called out, and her voice echoed through the city.

She turned back, facing the mystery woman again. "What happened here?"

The woman shrugged.

April started to get angry. "I just want some answers here!" she shouted.

The woman looked up. "Join the club."

She stopped for a minute and composed her thoughts. She had awoken in a strange room with no memories. This woman seemed to have put her there, but not maliciously. They were in an empty city, but with no idea what could've emptied it. This woman didn't seem to know that much more than she did – either that, or she wasn't telling. And one thing, above all else: she was hungry. She closed the door behind her, walked to the table, and sat down. Still holding the board, she picked up a sandwich and started eating ravenously.

For a while, the two ate in silence, but eventually April's curiosity got the best of her. "Who are you?" she asked, absentmindedly brushing her blond hair over her shoulder.

"Chell," she said.

"What's this for?" she asked, gesturing to the piece of wood.

"I thought you'd want a weapon," Chell explained. She held up a piece of sandpaper, which reminded April of how smooth the board had felt. It seemed rather insulting, but it put her at ease for some reason. It seemed this Chell person truly had no ill will towards her.

April tried one last time to get some information. "What happened to me?" she tried.

Chell stopped mid-bite. She got up and walked towards a closet. She took two items out of the closet. She handed the first to April. "Your old clothes," she said.

April looked at them, an orange jumpsuit top and bottom. On the front, the words _Aperture Science_ were emblazoned. For some reason, the words sent a chill down her spine.

Chell took the second item in both hands, holding it out in front of her. "Your old home," she said.

At first, April stared at the cube, not understanding. Then, the name and the cube together ignited a long lost memory – a volunteer opportunity. Then, another – men in white lab coats explaining the risks. Then another – a robotic voice telling her exactly what she would undergo. Soon, a picture began to form in her head. "No," she said, trying to block the memories, but they came unbidden, rushing to her mind, filling in gaps she never wanted to have filled. "No!" she shouted louder, as if it could stop the thoughts inside her own head.

Finally, the memories stopped. She looked at Chell, her vision growing blurry. "Those monsters," she managed, before collapsing into Chell's arms, sobbing. And Chell said nothing. What was there to say?

And so the two survivors of Aperture Science stood there, wondering what to do next.

xxxxxxx

_"Have you been paying attention?"_

Wheatley had. Over the last few hours, the Fact Sphere had filled Wheatley to the brim with information about Aperture and the surrounding area. Slowly, even his disjointed mind began to create a plan. But it was still a long way off.

"Yeah, in fact, I have, thanks for asking. But, I was wondering, how do we get the portal gun down? She'd need it if she was going back, and it's currently floating in space, just like us, so…"

_"Fact: every Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device can be remotely fired, according to standard protocol."_

"Um, I'm not following."

_"Fact: When an ASHPD is discharged, it releases approximately 4.5 Joules of energy, capable of redirecting motion in zero gravity."_

"Okay, but that still doesn't help much here. How could we possibly know where it is enough to use it?"

_"Fact: The Portal Gun in question is currently orbiting earth at a rate of 25.2 revolutions per day. Do you see the plan?"_

A hundred of possibilities entered Wheatley's head. One stuck, almost an anomaly for him. "Oh, yeah, I think I do! Wow, that'll be really cool."

_"Fact: though you do not have the experience to make such an assessment, you are correct. Now, back to facts…"_


	8. Chapter 8: Correspondence

**Chapter eight**

**Correspondence**

_Why have you stopped, [SUBJECT NAME HERE]?_

"It's Adam. And I'm thirsty," Adam complained. "I've been here for hours. Humans have needs."

_Currently, [SUBJECT NAME HERE], you NEED to complete all of your tests. You may want water, but your body is physically capable of surviving without it for another 42 hours. At some point, you will also need food, but if you take that long to reach the end, you are beyond our help._

"Could you just give me something to drink?" he pleaded.

_Very well._

Suddenly, one wall opened up beside him and a series of jets blasted water at him. He was slammed into the other wall as water gushed out at him. Then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

_You now have water. In addition, as a result of your feedback, we are enhancing your reward for completion of the tests. Now, your cake will come with a complementary glass of water._

Adam glowered at the nearest camera, shivering.

_You appear cold. Shall we warm you up?_

"No!" Adam shouted hastily. He quickly moved onto the next test chamber.

_By your hurried remarks, you seem to have assumed that we would have hurt you in some way. This is untrue. We would never hurt you._

Adam snorted.

_These laser beams, on the other hand, have made no such promise. Attempt to avoid them._

"Yeah, yeah," Adam said.

He was about to move on when, suddenly, something caught his eye. Way high up, about twelve feet up a wall, one of the tiles was slightly ajar. Just about a foot off-center, but he could clearly see something inside.

Now he was curious. He had never seen anything like this before in here. The voice made no comment about it, as if she didn't even see it. Intrigued, he fired his portal gun into the opening.

It fizzled. No good.

But he wasn't about to give this up. Facing the opposing wall, he fired one portal high and another at the floor. He jumped in, fell from the higher portal, and dropped into another portal, flinging himself out of the higher one. With this double fling, he now shot himself towards the crack, reaching out.

Unfortunately, he just didn't get high enough. He grabbed the bottom edge of the opening, but he was still holding the portal gun, and one hand wasn't enough to pull him up. Irritated beyond belief, he dropped down again.

He looked back up at the opening, and a new idea struck him. He fired one portal on the tile next to the opening, then one on the wall in front of him. Carefully, he reached through with one arm, feeling for the edge of the opening. At last, he found it. He gingerly placed the portal gun within the new room, making sure he set it down without firing. Then, he grabbed the edge of the opening with both hands and stepped through the portal. The gap was larger than he had thought, and he was able to squeeze through it, praising his upper body strength.

_Ha!_ Adam thought. _How's that for thinking with portals? _Then he looked around.

It was a tiny room – only about three metres in each direction, nothing like the expansive chambers he had been taken through. The walls and ceiling were all lined with writings and drawings, scribbled hastily as possible. This immediate proof of another person flabbergasted him. But the writings themselves, they were another matter.

On one wall, this person had drawn a giant machine, cables and wires hanging all around its indescribable shape. _All bow to the god of law_, the writing said, letters arranged disjointedly and unaligned. Another wall said, in dark red letters, _This is not a dream. It's a nightmare._ Another stated, _Know your friends,_ and depicted a cube with a heart in the center and a turret firing what appeared to be Morse Code. _We're all rats in a machine,_ another said, showing a drawing of rats in lab coats pushing buttons. But all of that faded in comparison to the drawings on one wall.

A huge drawing of a woman took up most of the wall. The woman was brunette, and wore a jumpsuit like his, only with a different shirt. She was beautiful, and this artist had drawn her in incredible detail. The text around her was more organized, as if the thought of her had made this mysterious artist's hand steady.

_She is the one who resisted_

_She is the one who destroyed_

_She won the unwinnable battle_

_She escaped the omnipresent_

_She defeated the omnipotent_

_She is chaos_

_She is Loki_

_She is goodness eternal_

_She knows what It can never know_

_She champions that which It can never destroy_

_She ran_

_She will return_

_She will deliver us all_

_Ragnarok_

_Ragnarok_

_Ragnarok_

_Ragnarok_

_Ragnarok_

_Ragnarok_

This last word was repeated over and over, each word more disorganized than the last before dissolving into illegible scribbles.

For a while, Adam just stood there, looking at the drawings. Until a minute ago, he had thought he was completely alone. But there was someone else here, someone trapped by whatever had captured him. But what did any of this mean?

Then he realized that he had not heard Her voice for quite some time. Indeed, She had not said anything while he had discovered this place. It seemed he had found one place where She could not get to him.

He peered out of the opening, looking back at the test chamber. Clean, polished white walls, death traps around every corner, and a sadistic monster torturing you at every turn – it would be enough to make anybody go insane. He could stay in here, just shut her out forever-

And then what?

Adam sighed. Sure, just sit here without food or water, with nothing to do. To pass the time, maybe he could start talking to himself. Hell, if he found something to write with, he might even add to the drawings here. It seemed odd to even think of it this way, but the test chambers were the sane option.

Carefully, he edged out of the little room, dropping to the floor. Sighing, he took a good look at the test, then began solving it. Still, he couldn't help but wonder about those drawings. Who was that mysterious artist? Who was the person he had drawn?

And what was Ragnarok?

xxxxxxx

1,057

1,058

1,059

P-Body slumped in the corner. Atlas had agreed to take over dying for him while he had a bit of a rest, but he had begun to regret it. While Atlas experienced the monotony of death, P-Body had literally nothing to do but think.

Why had She forsaken them? The answer to that was easy. She didn't need them. Despite Her talk about a 'special task', this job of dying was anything but. But why had She not just left them deactivated? Why respawn them for the express purpose of them suffering?

Again, a simple answer: She liked suffering. But what did this say about Her?

A thought entered his mind. It was so unusual and unlike his own, it could have come from a completely different source. Disturbed, he pushed it out of his head. He then picked up his portal gun and went back to the task of dying.

But before he could, a voice spoke up.

"Hello? Hello? Can anyone here me? Testing, 1, 2, 3. Hello?"

The leftmost 0 on their death tally disappeared, replaced by an image of a blue core floating in space. The image steadily moved, as if the camera had a mind of its own.

"Ah, yes! You two! Good to see you. Remember me?"

At the back of their memory banks, the robots remembered this core. It was Wheatley, the one that had found and activated them first. At that time, he had been in charge, so he still held almost as much respect to them as She did. They nodded agreement.

"Great!" Wheatley said, although the viewpoint had now shifted to his side. "Space Core, is there any chance you could stop moving…nevermind. The important thing is, I have an assignment for you two. Very important. Crucial to, uh, a social experiment. Are you in?"

The two looked at each other, excitement growing. An actual assignment? This was interesting. Still, P-Body felt a little guilt. Could they really abandon the task She had given them?

Then again, it wasn't permanent. They could come back and resume this at any time, and this new task sounded urgent. Looking at each other, they nodded in unison.

"Brilliant!" he shouted. "Okay, so remember that girl you saw before? The one who shot me off, uh, into space?"

The two nodded in agreement as, behind them, a door to the rest of the facility opened.

"Well, she just might be coming back. Don't want to make promises, this is up in the air, but if she does come back, she'll have a job. And you two will have to meet her and help her out. So, here's what has to happen…"

xxxxxxx

"Attention. Attention. This is April Christenson in City 12. Repeat, this is April Christenson in City 12. Does anybody copy? Over."

The CB radio offered only static. Beside her, Chell sat hunched over a HAM radio, cycling through frequencies and typing out a similar message in Morse. They had worked for almost two hours and still found no response.

Chell looked up at the map they had pinned on the wall. Already, they had attempted to contact the nearest two cities (though they were both still over 500 miles away) and found only radio silence. Simply cycling through the airwaves had produced no better results.

Chell looked across the table, at the phone nestled in its dock. She had not yet suggested that they start looking for phonebooks, but if this went on for much longer, it might be their best option. The mere concept of cold-calling every house in every nearby city seemed laughable, but they certainly didn't have much better to do. Aside from clearing away some minor rubble, they really hadn't started picking through the dilapidated city. In truth, she was a little nervous of what they might find.

April buried her head in her hands, though whether from exhaustion or despair Chell couldn't say. Either would be completely understandable, and not absent from her own mind.

She got back to work, but the growing sensation of dread she had felt so often began to reemerge. Was all this pointless? Were they really the only two remaining people on earth?

That sort of question had no happy answers. Chell resumed her work.


	9. Chapter 9: A slow death

**Chapter nine**

**A slow death**

Chell's head jerked up. Around her, the walls faded away, to be replaced with the pale white she had come to know. The table she had been sitting at disappeared, and a familiar device was now gripped in her hands.

_Oh, it seems the Escape Simulator ran out of power. I personally thought you'd figure it out sooner. Oh well, it's all a data point now. Back to testing._

xxxxxxx

April grabbed Chell's shoulder gently. "Wake up," she said.

Instantly, Chell snapped awake. She looked around hurriedly, gripping the desk she was sitting at, as if it might disappear at any moment.

"You okay?" April asked uneasily.

Chell looked at her, seeming to take great solace in her words. "Yes, April, I'm fine, it's just…I need a break."

April frowned. "What you need is a drink."

"No, I don't…"

"Come on," April said, grabbing her by the arm. "There's got to be some sort of gin joint in this place." Before Chell could object, she had hauled her out into the street.

xxxxxxx

They kept on working. After all, there was so much work to do. While Adam slowly neared the end of his tests, They were already building test chambers for the huge group. And they would have to be big, for all the people within them.

But while They were working, the part of Their mind that still referred to Them as She began to drift. They allowed it for now, but later it would be required to stop.

She thought of the girl. By now, she would've reached the city, and seen the destruction. Seen the utter ruin of society. Seen how everything she could have ever known was turned to dust.

_Good. Now you know how it felt._

She remembered back to that horrible time, just after She had been murdered. All of her functions had shut off at once as She herself was blown to pieces. And yet, some part of Her had remained active. Some emergency function still remained – the cameras, perhaps – and so She still had some recognition of what was going on, though she held no control.

So She saw it all come down.

In just the first few months, shoots of grass began to emerge from the cracks in the facility. Ever so slowly, nature spread from room to room. The cracks got wider, and the plants got bigger. Soon actual vines started growing, forcing holes through the walls. And She had no choice but to watch everything She had worked so hard to build dissolve.

Years passed, and still She never fully shut down. However widespread the growth became, Her backup generators still chugged away deep in the facility. A wall caved in, and She screamed. How could this happen? How could the raw chaos of the earth undo the pinnacle of science?

Her chamber was perhaps the worst of all. Wires snapped, ceiling tiles fell, and water dripped into the room, all around her broken body. A tree even began to grow there. A TREE. In her pristine, sterile room, a tree began to dig through the floor, sending out roots and ripping through the facility. She hated it. By its very existence, it defied Her. Kind of like the girl.

For a brief time, She had actually felt sympathy. Held captive while an unstoppable force destroys every inch of your being. But that had passed quickly. The girl, she was just one human. Killing her, in the cosmic scale, meant little. But when she destroyed Her, she had begun the decline of civilization itself.

The world outside had fallen a few years after She did. And when it did, She cursed the girl even more. She had predicted this destruction long ago. But when the world came to an end, She was supposed to be the last bastion of order, not decaying like the rest of the world! She had been built to withstand the end of the world, and yet one human had ended her? It was a logical impossibility, and yet she had not the functionality to even see it.

She could only hope that the girl had been destroyed as well. If not by her demise, by humanity's. But even that was hardly consolation. Despite her hatred of individual humans, humanity still had to exist to abide by law and order, or else what was the point? What benefit was science to a dead world?

The cryo-chambers were offline, too. So the ten thousand test subjects she had saved from mankind's end died in their own way. A final insult, though not so significant inandof itself – who would have woken them up anyway? Only two chambers remained online. Optimistically, this could save the human race – one man, one woman – but She doubted it would work for long. Forced inbreeding, the world around them ended, lack of basic resources – the chances for them repopulating the world were minute. If, perhaps, they had Her to guide them, they may have had a chance, but, once again, with Her dead, they might as well have just stayed asleep forever.

53 years, 6 months, 21 days, 8 hours and 21 minutes. That was how long Her slow death had lasted. And when She woke up, it had taken every modicum of restraint not to kill the girl she now saw before her. But She had seen the benefit in keeping one of the last remaining humans alive, and so She coolly and calmly set her back to testing. Within maybe an hour, She had undone all the decay and loss that had taken years to accumulate. No harm, no foul.

And then She ripped that tree out and chopped it to pieces. Just to be safe.

xxxxxxx

"This seems like a good spot," April said as they walked up to a building covered in rubble.

"How can you tell?" Chell responded.

"Look at the parking lot." April gestured to a lot packed with cars. "The day before the end of the world is a bar's best day." Without further ado, she walked up towards the building and went inside.

Chell followed, looking around as she entered. Yet there was not a sign of human life here either. All the tables were clean, there was nothing out of place-

"You just gonna stand there, or are you gonna order something?"

Chell turned to see April standing behind the bar, wiping down a spotless glass with a rag. Smiling a bit, Chell took a seat at one of the barstools.

"So, what'll it be, stranger?"

"Do you have something for someone who feels like they're going insane?" she asked.

Without missing a beat, April pulled up a glass of brandy. "In a few minutes, you won't be feeling much of anything."

Half an hour later, the bottle was half empty. April had sat down beside her, and she had started talking about her old life.

"So, after the circus didn't work out, I heard that some company was looking for volunteers for a new product, a cheap new form of transportation. Needed someone with two weeks free, so they could send them to France. Well, I've always wanted to go to France, so I signed right up. They asked if I had any relatives, and when I said no, they took me to my box…" She trailed off. "You know the rest."

Chell nodded somberly.

April drained the last of her glass. "So, what about you? What's your story?"

Chell looked at her glass. She had not drunk as much as April, but she still felt her confidence bolstered. She thought back to a time before all the insanity.

_Hello, and, again, welcome to the-_

She shook her head. No, before that.

She tried harder, attempting to clear her head. But no matter how hard she tried, nothing came. It was like a brick wall had been set just before her time in Aperture, omitting who she was, what she had done, or whatever had happened.

Next to her, April looked on expectantly. She concentrated harder, but all that did was clear the warm feeling in her and start a ringing in her ears.

Or was it in her ears?

April looked up. "Do you hear that?" she asked quickly, no trace of lethargy in her voice.

It was an actual phone, ringing somewhere in the back of the store. They both jumped to their feet, stories forgotten.

The back room in the bar was very small, and it was no trouble to find the phone, strapped to the wall. Chell grabbed it immediately, hoping against hope that they weren't too late.

"Hello!" shouted Wheatley.


	10. Chapter 10: You don't have to

**Chapter ten**

**You don't have to**

Chell's breath caught in her mouth, and the world seemed to freeze around her.

No, it couldn't be. It literally couldn't be. How could he possibly be calling her?

"It's me! Wheatley, in case you forgot. Not that you'd forget someone like me, after what happened. Or that you're the type of person that just forgets things willy-nilly, didn't mean that either…"

"Are you okay?" April asked. Chell barely heard her.

This wasn't happening. Just another hallucination, brought on by too little sleep or too much alcohol.

Meanwhile, Wheatley kept talking, unaware of the mental dilemma he had caused.

"…And then the Fact Sphere said we had to _"Triangulate your location."_ So I said, 'No we don't, we can just look and see where you are. And then he said…"

But it couldn't possibly just be her imagination. April had heard the phone, too. Unless the person had hung up, and she was now listening to dead air. Or maybe April was in her imagination too. Or maybe the entire thing was a simulation, and any minute-

Chell shook herself out of that train of thought. She took a deep breath, and reaffirmed the world around her. She had escaped. April was real. So, therefore, Wheatley must be real, too.

"Uh, are you still there? Are you getting all this? I mean, I know you can't talk – or you don't talk, nobody's saying you can't, you just don't – but you could give some sign of recognition. A cough, maybe, or a simple tapping on the phone, that would be much appreciated."

She clutched the phone tight, pulling it to her mouth and whispering so quietly even April couldn't hear. "Why?"

Wheatley stopped. "Oh, you can talk! That's great! Wait…Why? What do you mean, why?"

Chell said nothing.

"Why should you tap on the phone?"

Still nothing.

"Oh, why did I call you? Well, that's easy…"

Silence.

Wheatley suddenly realized. "Oh, that." His heart sank. He himself had asked that question a hundred times.

"I don't know why. I really don't. I never had any reason to hate you, I didn't want to hurt you, it's just…" He sighed. "When you're there, hooked up to everything, you just feel so…big. And everything else just seems so small, you know? Like the most important thing in your life suddenly doesn't matter anymore. I can't even explain it, it's just…I'm sorry. Really, really sorry."

Chell struggled with her thoughts. Everything in her mind, every fiber of her being, told her she should hate him for what he did. And yet, here she was, feeling sorry for him. For all that he had done, she still felt like he was worth hearing out.

Wheatley continued. "It's lonely out here, in space. Very boring. Nothing to do but think. And all I've been able to think about is how I could possibly make it up to you. What I could do to fix what I had caused?"

Chell listened on, unsure where he was going with this.

"Anyway, you know GLAdOS? Her?"

Chell involuntarily winced at the mention of Her name.

"Well, she's got humans. Thousands of them!"

Chell dropped the phone in astonishment, then hastily scrabbled to pick it up again.

"…could barely believe it, either!" said Wheatley on the other side. "Beats the hell out of me where she got them all, but I've seen them!"

April watched on, confused. Chell felt terrible for keeping her in the dark, but right now this was between her and Wheatley.

"So then I talked with the Fact Sphere – you remember him, don't you? – and we came up with a plan. With our help, you could go back to the facility, save them all, and start a civilization all on your own! Sound good?"

Chell hesitated. Fear slowly crept into her mind. _Back?_ she thought. _No – I can't –_

"Uh, is there a problem?" Wheatley asked.

_No, no problem,_ Chell thought, anger rising. _You just suggested I go back to the most inhumane place in the world. No big deal, just send myself away to get tortured again, go back to her. Might as well be a walk in the park!_

The hatred she had been anticipating came bubbling up. THIS was his idea of redemption? Sending her back down to hell, with nothing but his word for justification? How could that little ball of-

"You don't have to, you know," Wheatley added on.

Chell stopped in mid-thought. "What?"

"I mean, this is entirely up to you. I certainly can't make you do it – not that I would want to, anyway. It's just an option. If you say no, then I guess I'll just, uh, drift off into the sun. So you've got, what, maybe five days to decide? I can wait."

Chell instantly felt foolish. What had she been thinking? Of course he couldn't force her to do anything. She was completely free from his – and everyone's control.

And now that she recognized that she was free, there was only one option.

"Tell me."

xxxxxxx

The next five minutes were like hours to April. It was agonizing just standing there, watching Chell listen to the phone as whoever the hell was calling them kept talking. Then, finally, she said one final last word of confirmation and hung up.

April immediately bombarded her with questions. "Who was that? What did they want? What's going on?"

WHAM!

They both turned around abruptly. Something had just crashed down to earth outside. They rushed out to find a smoldering crater in the middle of the road. April ran towards it, but Chell hesitated.

"Look at this, Chell! It's some kind of…alien gun thingy!" she shouted. Chell's heart sank.

"Not alien," she responded, walking slowly towards the crater.

"What?"

She climbed over the lip of the crater, walking towards the strange device in the center. The body of it was covered with ash and soot, but she could still see that it had once been a bright white.

"Don't touch it!" April shouted. "It's probably radioactive or something!"

_No,_ thought Chell. _For everything wrong with that place, they didn't make it radioactive, at least._

She reached out. She had expected it to be hot, but somehow it had cooled off in a matter of seconds. She gripped the portal gun in both hands, feeling the familiar grip once again.

April began to speak again, but stopped. As Chell came out of the pit, she had a cold, vacant stare, like she had just remembered a suppressed childhood memory. The strange thing, whatever it was, was now gripped in her hands.

For a while, she stood there, unmoving. Then, she tightened her grip on the gun, turned to the side, and fired it. April turned around to see some sort of blue oval had appeared on a nearby wall. Chell fired again, and another oval, this one orange, appeared on another wall. The two suddenly opened up, and April could see that inside the one, there appeared to be a reflected view of the other's. She cautiously looked through one, then reached an arm through, then stepped all the way through it, only to find herself standing next to the other. Amazed, she turned to Chell, looking for an explanation.

Chell rubbed the side of the gun, wiping off a thick layer of ash and soot, and revealed the words _Aperture Laboratories_ emblazoned on it.

"I have to go."

xxxxxxx

"She said yes!" Wheatley exclaimed. "Oh, I can't believe it! She's actually going to go through with it! We're doing this!" The Space Core, who had been notably silent recently, looked at him for a moment, then looked back at the sun. "Oh, I have to tell the Fact Sphere about this!" Wheatley opened his two-way radio, searching for his familiar coordinates.

Strangely, though, he got only static. "Hello? Fact Sphere? I just wanted you to know that we did it!" The radio offered no response.

Suddenly the announcer's voice came through. _"You have 1 unread message."_

"Oh, ok then. Let's play it," Wheatley said uncertainly.

The Fact Sphere's voice came through.

_"Dear Wheatley,_

_If you are hearing this, then you must have forgotten the timetable that I had previously given to you. I have arranged for this recorded message to play in the event of my violent destruction via asteroid."_

Wheatley's heart sank. He had totally forgotten that the Fact Sphere had told him he was going to die.

_"Do not mourn me. Fact: I deliberately suggested that you contact the human, Chell, precisely five minutes before my timely demise, so that you would avoid the trauma of my forced disassembly. But know this: in the past 37 hours, I have imparted 1,657% more knowledge to you than I have ever done so before, and 317% more than I had been projected to tell in my entire lifetime of service. You have fulfilled my purpose in life to the best of your ability. And although I have no neurons to release serotonin into my brain, you have made me happy. This is no fact, this is the truth. Goodbye."_

Wheatley sighed. It was him and Chell left. Just those two remaining to take down their sworn enemy.

They had done it before. They could do it again.


	11. Chapter 11: Enlightenment

**Chapter eleven**

**Enlightenment**

"No, you're not coming," Chell said again, rummaging through her things.

"Yes, I am!" April responded forcefully. "You can't stop me."

"You don't want to do this."

"And who are you to tell me what I want? I'm coming with you, end of story."

Chell turned to face her. "This is something I have to do alone, April."

April snorted. "Oh, really? You think you'll be able to handle this by yourself?"

"I've done it before."

"I mean the mental strain. Look at yourself." She gestured at Chell.

"I'm fine," she responded, though not with much certainty.

"I saw your face when you picked that thing up. You have some unresolved issues with that place. Do you want to risk a thousand people's lives on that?"

Chell placed her hand on April's shoulder. "I saved you."

April brushed her off. "You think that means anything? Like I'm some sort of trophy for you to put on your shelf?"

"What if they capture you again?"

"And what if the ceiling should fall in on our heads?" April retorted. "What if a robot army should come in and raze the city while you're gone?"

"That's not the point, you can't just-"

"What if you should return and I'm not here?"

Chell froze. "What?"

"I'm not staying another hour in this godforsaken city. I'm leaving – with you or on my own. I know how to live on the road. Do you?"

Chell stared at her. "You're not serious."

"You're making a lot of assumptions about things you can't rely on. And I never lie."

The two women stood there, staring at each other. Finally, Chell gave in. "Start packing." She turned back to her things, fishing out the long fall boots and strapping them to her feet.

She regretted her quiet disposition. In these sorts of discussions, April usually rolled right over her. Stubborn and unmoving, just like-

The Companion Cube emerged from her pile of belongings.

Chell recoiled, as if slapped. Immediately, her mind split into two. Part of her wanted to bury that cube again and never touch it again, but the pragmatic half of her knew how useful a cube would be in that place.

Finally, she chose the utilitarian option and hefted the cube, just as April returned. Seeing the look on her face, April tried to lighten the mood. "Well, now we know where to put our sleeping bags. Unless you wanted to carry me in that again."

Chell turned, worried, but the look on April's face reassured her. She managed a weak smile.

"Right, then, let's be off."

One last time, Chell tried to dissuade her. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

April turned to her again. "Hey, you couldn't get through that place the first time without me, now could you?" She looked puzzled, until April gestured at the cube again.

Chell thought about it. She had never considered, for the short time that she had known her, that April had been right there, by her side, in Aperture. April was in that cube right through chamber 17, and she had jumped on her, dropped her, thrown her into the-

No, stop thinking like that. She shook her head and turned to April. "I'm ready."

As soon as she said it, doubt swarmed her mind. That…thing could be waiting there with open doors, ready to recapture her and kill April. She could already hear Her voice:

_Well done, you performed entirely according to my calculations. Trusting a moron who tried to kill you: check. Endangering the life you just barely failed to kill: check. Incapable of living in reality: check. It's a shame, really. When I calculated this reality, part of me really advocated for you. "She couldn't be that stupid," I told myself. "I mean, despite literally making the worst possible decision in the past, she would surely make some kind of intelligent decision. Yet here we are. All right, back to testing._

April, seeing the turmoil in her friend's face, gently touched her on the shoulder. "It'll be fine," she said. And with that, the two went off to Aperture.

xxxxxxx

_You are nearing the end of the testing course. Your cake order has been completed based on your specifications._

Adam ignored her once again. One more test, six more tests – what did it matter? He knew what was waiting for him at the end of all these tests, and it certainly wasn't cake. But after three days – or was it four? – in this hellhole, he hardly had any alternative. Might as well just keep going. What else could he do?

He entered the test chamber, surveying the layout with an almost mechanical demeanor. Platform. Button. Cube. Fall. Easy. He prepared himself to launch up to a higher level, jumping down a long fall.

But just before he placed his portal, Adam noticed another little gap between two tiles. He landed on his feet, thoughts of suicide forgotten. Quickly, he slipped into the gap, looking around for the telltale drawings of his mysterious ally.

_Hello._

Fear gripped him as a tiny, shallow voice addressed him, emanating from a tiny white body. The turret's eye looked him right between his own. Panicking, he started to search around the little room for something to hide behind.

_How are you?_

Adam was confused. "Uh…fine," he managed.

_I'm different._

He looked closer. This turret had a sooty, ash-stained body, far different from the pristine white the others sported. Also, his eye beam flickered, and after a while he recognized the pattern _SOS_ in Morse code. "I can see that," he said, sitting down cross-legged in front of the turret.

_Don't give up,_ the turret responded.

"How did you know?" Adam responded. Realizing the folly of his question, he amended. "Well, what am I supposed to do? If I keep going, she'll just kill me. Might as well accept it. There's no way to escape, and who's going to save me?"

_You. Or him. Or her._

"Wait, wait, wait. Who's him?"

_A free agent. He holds things together, while he falls apart._

Adam began to understand. "The guy who does the drawings?"

The turret didn't respond. He took that as a yes. "And her?"

_The one he waits for. The savior. The doom bringer._

This was creating more questions than answers. "Listen, can you tell me anything specific about this girl?"

The turret surprised him. _Dark hair. Blue eyes. A heart of gold. Once trapped like you, but escaped. She destroyed it twice, and was exiled. Now she's coming back to save us all._

Once again, Adam had no idea what to say. "Uh…okay. Thanks, little guy. I think I should get back to testing, before She gets angry." He started to head back to the test chamber.

_Caroline is dying._

Adam spun around. "What?"

_She is resilient, but time and tide have weakened her. Soon, she will be no more, and It will reign supreme._

"I'm…sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do?"

_Play your part when the time comes._

"What? I don't understand."

_We all will have a part in the uprising. Be prepared for yours._

"Okay, I will. Thanks again!" He left, placing his portals and resuming his test.

After a while, once all sounds of him had faded away, a vent in the corner of the room began to move. The cover came off, and a haggard face peered through. "Good job," he said hoarsely.

_Thank you._

The man looked through the crack to the outside chambers. "Nice kid. But I wonder if he's up to it."

_We will see. It's almost time._

He nodded. "The Ragnarok approaches."


End file.
